Ways to Work on Your Thought Patterns

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Negative, destructive, or unhelpful thoughts often make us feel miserable and bring down our mood. Individual harmful thoughts can develop into recurring harmful thinking patterns in your daily life. These harmful thinking patterns prevent you from acting as you would like, weaken your self-esteem, lower your mood, and increase dissatisfaction. Without you noticing, harmful thinking patterns can influence the way you perceive, act, and make decisions. Working on harmful thinking patterns can be achieved using various techniques.

Holistic Techniques

Be your own cheerleader

You can act as your own coach by giving yourself guidance, encouragement, praise, and support. In other words, you can practice self-compassion. If this feels difficult at first, imagine what you would say to a friend in the same situation.

Reward and appreciate yourself

Gratitude and encouragement give strength – and you should also thank yourself! Acknowledge your achievements and give yourself recognition. Even the courage to try and experiment deserves appreciation. Rest and relaxation are also worthy of reward: “It was great that I listened to myself and allowed myself a break!”

Change “Should” to “Want”

You can gain a new perspective by replacing the word “should” with “want” or “can.” Do you really have to act the way you always have, or can you do what you truly want? You might realize what you actually want to do or identify things that are neither necessary nor possible.

Individual techniques for changing thoughts

Previously, we introduced holistic ways to influence your thinking. There are also specific techniques you can try to work on your thoughts. Experiment and practice to find the ones that suit you best.

Worry time

During worry time, do nothing but focus on the problem occupying your mind. Choose a quiet place and spend 10 minutes allowing your worries to flow freely. Don’t do anything else. If you feel capable of focusing on the problem and finding a solution, do so.

At other times of the day, you can interrupt distressing thoughts by telling yourself: I will return to these thoughts only during my worry time.

List of good things

You can strengthen positive thinking by making a list of your good qualities and everything in your life that is going well enough. Read the list daily and keep adding more positive things to it. This practice will help you remember your strengths and recognize that many things in life are good enough. Thinking about pleasant things daily trains your brain to generate more positive thoughts.

Interrupting negative thoughts

Sometimes, you might get stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts, which can be exhausting and make you feel bad. Learn to break the chain of intrusive thoughts. One way to do this is by firmly saying “stop” or “halt” in your mind and then deliberately focusing on a concrete task or going for a walk.

If distressing thoughts start taking over, tell yourself: "This is ruining my mood. I want to think about something else!" You can also write the thought down and revisit it later (similar to worry time).

The worst that can happen

Consider the worst possible outcome if your fear comes true. For example, you may worry about not finishing your assignment on time. This concern may hinder your ability to work. However, the worst that can happen is that your work appears incomplete and you receive a lower grade. A few years from now, you likely won’t even remember it. Do not use this method for worries that may have serious consequences.

Moving forward in time

Sometimes, you may face situations that feel difficult. It can often help to imagine a future time when things are better. You have likely encountered challenges before and managed to overcome them. Focusing on a future, brighter moment can give you strength to get through the difficulties of the present.

Mindfulness as a support for processing thoughts

Mindfulness, or conscious and accepting presence, means pausing in the present moment without judging or analyzing your internal or external experiences in any way.